Description

Boss of the Dark Chasm of Old. It is a four-armed humanoid with angelic wings, and is capable of casting all variants of magic.

In order to access the area in which Darklurker is fought, you don't need to be Rank 2 in the Pilgrims of Dark covenant - the requirements is to light up the 3 braziers - you will get to the boss through the exit portal regardless of your Rank. See the covenant article for more info.

Location

Drops

Resistance

Very High Dark Resistance

Medium Fire and Magic Resistance

Low Lightning Resistance

Attack Patterns

Shadow Blade: Darklurker will generate a Magic-based longsword and will swing it one or two times at the player. If just out of melee range, this attack may be a quick piercing motion. These can be differentiated in two ways; the first being the early appearance of the Magic blade (slash), and the second being Darklurker's wind-up motion. If Darklurker winds up without first generating the Magic blade, it has an extremely high chance of being the forward piercing attack, which will need to be evaded much sooner than the slash. Deals reduced second-hand contact damage if not evaded precisely.

Teleport: Darklurker will temporarily disappear, teleporting to a random location and reappearing. If Darklurker does not teleport too far away (or behind the player), your lock-on will remain. If Darklurker generates a large black circle, this typically indicates that it is teleporting farther away.

Hellfire Barrage: Darklurker will create a large fireball above its head, which fires three explosive blasts in succession to random locations, typically in the player's current direction. Deals fire-based damage and can cause knockdown.

Dark Soul Bomb: Darklurker will create two small dark portals; one above his head and another at a random location. He then sends in a Dark Orb into the portal above his head. The Dark Orb will appear on the second portal and home in to the player. Explodes on contact with either the unfortunate player or the ground, dealing massive Dark damage. Can cause knockdown.

Abyss Blast: Performed when the player spends an excessive amount of time in melee range; Darklurker will cross its arms across its chest and generate an AoE/area-of-effect explosion around itself with a large radius. Can cause knockdown.

Clone: At approximately 60% health, Darklurker will create a clone of itself, which shares a health pool and all abilities of the main Darklurker. Either Darklurker can be damaged at this point, or both at the same time if they are next to one another. The split can be interrupted if Darklurker is staggered at the beginning of it.

Strategies

Shadow Blade is Darklurker's least-offensive attack, and can be baited by staying in melee range. If rolling beneath the attack with the right precision, no damage will be taken, and will leave Darklurker open for an attack.

Be wary of Abyss Blast if you spend too much time in melee range, and be ready to back away once Darklurker crosses its arms.

Dodging and Blocking

Shadow Blade can be strafe-dodged entirely by sticking close to Darklurker and strafing against its body counter-clockwise, as it swings with the right hand.

Hellfire Barrage, if not blocked, is best evaded by putting distance between Darklurker and yourself as it is prepared, and then running and/or rolling (whichever is faster) towards Darklurker to avoid the explosion and splash damage of each fireball.

For Dark Soul Bomb evasion, quickly scan the skybox of the room for the second dark portal (the first is always above Darklurker's head.) The second portal will always be the one to emit a bomb. Put distance between yourself and this portal, and be ready to run or roll away from the following bomb.

Dark Spear is more easily dodged from a distance, as it gives you more time to react. If in melee range, you will not be hit by this attack if you are right up against Darklurker. It will be fired over your head, no dodging or rolling is required.

Black Laser slowly tracks the player, and should be avoided by immediately running to either side of Darklurker, and then to an ideal position for a counterattack once it lands (beneath Darklurker for melee builds, or a midrange distance for ranged builds.)

Abyss Blast does a lot of damage and is difficult to block, even with a lot of stamina and a shield with strong Dark defense. It is best evaded by putting distance between Darklurker and yourself.

Melee Strategy

Dark-infused Rebel's Greatshield has 100% Dark defense, making the only ability you have to worry about his fire orbs, which you can easily dodge by sprinting. Keep close to him and strafe clockwise, this baits his sword attack, letting you get a few hits off after his combo, rinse and repeat. Staggering Darklurker will prevent it from splitting in two.

Pyromancy Strategy

Simply whittle Darklurker down to 60%, and then do as much damage as you safely can prior to the split. Once he raises his right hand at his side to telegraph an incoming split, immediately cast the strongest of the aforementioned three spells that you have available in melee range. Ideally, it will be at the peak of its cast during the split, and hit both Darklurkers for immense damage. In NG, this one cast is often enough to end the fight, but a second cast may be necessary due to the random placement of the flame pillars.

If you have the hex Profound Still, you can prevent him from using any of his attacks except Shadow Blade.

Keep strongest spells like Soul Spear until he creates a clone. If you can hit both clones with a single Soul Spear, 2 or 3 double hits might be enough to finish him

Notes

Due to the fact that Darklurker deals purely magic damage, a set of armor with high elemental defense is preferred. Agdayne's Set accomplishes this effectively and is readily accessible to most players by the time they consider fighting Darklurker.

Once Darklurker has split in two, it's possible to hit them both with one Soul Spear if you line them up. If you're lacking high-damage Pyromancies, this is one way to take their health down fast before they start moving.

After the final blow is dealt, and the "Victory Achieved" message is displayed, you can still take damage from the attacks so be careful.

Once all three braziers have been lit and the Darklurker has been fought at least once, if not victorious, he can be fought again from any of the three locations by finishing the abyss dungeon located there. It's recommended to attempt this boss at Drangleic Castle dungeon because of its proximity to a bonfire.

Once Darklurker has been defeated, he can be revived by using a Bonfire Ascetic on the Under Drangleic Castle bonfire only - the other two bonfires do not work. This will revive the four enemies in this Dark Chasm of Old area, although the brazier will stay lit. After all four of them have been killed, jumping down the pit will lead to Darklurker. The other two Dark Chasm of Old areas will not lead to him. You still need to be a member of the Pilgrims of Dark covenant to enter the portal, but you will not need a human effigy.

There is a glitch that will cause Darklurker to stay still and never attack. This can happen both before and after the split, what causes this glitch is currently unknown.

The usage of any of the Clutch rings can be extremely effective for pure caster builds, as they will increase damage against Darklurker while the reduced physical defense will mean nothing, as he has no physical attacks.

After teleporting darklurker may "freeze" in place for 2-4 seconds, moving or healing seems to imediately triggering him to attack though it is an excelent window for a quick chug of estus